OUR  THOUGHT 


BY 

GEORGE  W.  KEITH  and  MARY  A.  READ. 


STOUGHTON,  MASS., 

1878. 


OUR  THOUGHT. 


BY 

GEORGE  W.  KEITH  and  MARY  A.  READ. 

' l‘  I VI  I y i , , 


He  who  thinketh  mi  thought  is  no  wiser  than  he  was  aforetime;  but 

HE  IN  WHOM  MY  THOUGHT  BEGETTETH  THOUGHT  HATH  PROFITED  THEREBY. 


STOUGHTON,  MASS. 

1878. 


Z.  Qi- 

Htloo 


' 


com  mere®.  / l f <0~/r 


REALITIES. 


d 

$ 


Up  to  the  present  time  people  have  not  seen  or 
felt  spiritual  realities.  What  they  have  taken  to 
be  such  has  been  only  the  shadow,  or,  more  prop- 
erly speaking,  the  emanation, — the  aura  that -goes 
forth  from  spiritual  things.  There  have  been,  in  all 
ages,  occasional  instances  of  people  who,  just  pre- 
vious to  death,  have  seen  and  laid  hold  of  spiritual 
realities  ; and  I thought,  it  is  impossible  to  live  in 
the  spiritual  world  and  this  world  at  the  same  time. 
When  the  spirit  becomes  so  unfolded  that  spiritual 
things  are  positive  in  their  action  upon  the  man,  it 
cannot  longer  abide  in  the  body.  But  the  spirit 
said  to  me,  "No,  you  are  wrong.  It  is  possible.” 

All  life  is  dual ; and  growth  the  result  of  the  inter- 
action of  the  dual  principles.  From  the  blending  — 
the  interchange  — between  the  intellectual  and  ani- 
mal natures,  comes  the  development  of  spirituality. 
Heretofore,  when  spirituality  has  become  the  positive 
power,  it  has  taken  the  spirit  out  of  the  body, 
because  the  man  as  a whole  was  not  large  enough 
to  realize  the  equality  of  all  things.  In  the  eager 
desire  to  make  the  physical  life  secondary  and  trib- 
utary to  the  spiritual,  injustice  has  been  done  the 
body ; the  consequent  warfare  between  it  and  the 
spirit  has  resulted  in  dissolution.  But  when  man 
has  reached  that  point  of  development  where  each 


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of  the  three  natures  desires  only  equality,  only  its 
just  proportion  of  positive  action,  the  trinity  are 
in  harmony,  and  can  live  together,  a triune  being. 

One  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  the  develop- 
ment of  spirituality  in  this  age,  is  the  lack  of  rever- 
ence ; not  for  things  called  high  and  holy,  but  for 
the  lower  departments  of  our  nature.  When 
intellectual  unfoldment  causes  us  to  lose  respect  for 
our  animal  nature,  there  ceases  to  be  harmonious 
reciprocal  action  between  them,  and  growth  ceases. 
Intellectual  acquisition  may  go  on,  but  our  collec- 
tion of  knowledge  is  an  inanimate  mass.  We  are 
like  the  miser  heaping  up  riches  we  neither  use  nor 
need,  and  though  possessing  great  knowledge,  may 
be  very  ignorant.  Intellectuality  belongs  to  "the 
betweenity  of  things.”  It  is  the  middle  ground 
between  the  instinct  of  the  animal  and  spontaneity, 
which  results  from  a state  of  supremacy  of  the 
spirit.  Impulse  must  not  be  confounded  with 
spontaneity.  It  is  a product  of  the  interplay  of 
the  animal  and  intellectual  forces.  Intellect  is  the 
pivotal  point,  corresponding  to  the  dead  point  of 
mechanics,  on  which  many  of  our  most  cultured 
people  are  stuck  fast.  One  leg  cannot  walk,  and 
they  who  would  progress  must  exercise  both  na- 
tures. The  more  equally  they  do  so,  the  more  rapid 
and  harmonious  will  be  their  progression.  By  the 
animal  nature,  I mean  not  simply  the  sexual  depart- 
ment of  that  nature,  which,  though  the  basis,  is  not 
the  whole.  I mean  all  that  part  of  us  inherited 
from  the  animal;  by  which,  lying  close  to  mother 


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earth,  and  fed  from  her  bosom,  warmed  by  the  sun- 
shine, fanned  by  the  breeze,  bathed  by  the  rain, 
regaled  by  colors  and  odors,  and  nightly  wrapped 
about  by  darkness  and  slumber,  we  are  capable  of 
a keen  delight  in  simple  existence;  a capacity, 
alas  ! that  has  been  so  nearly  educated  out  of  men 
and  women,  that  but  for  children  we  might  almost 
doubt  its  existence,  Whenever  we  find  an  organi- 
zation where  the  animal  and  intellectual  natures 
have  preserved  their  balance,  we  find  a man  of 
weight  and  power.  If  he  have  large  capacity,  he 
becomes  one  of  the  great  men  of  the  world. 
Read  Emerson’s  "Nature,”  and  you  will  find  the 
key  that  unlocks  the  mystery  of  his  superior 
development. 

To  make  a quick  and  prosperous  voyage  over  the 
unknown  sea  of  life,  we  must  not  only  spread  our 
sails  to  catch  the  winds  of  heaven,  but  must  look 
well  to  the  ballast  in  the  hold. 


WHO  CAN  BE  A COMMUNIST. 


Until  a man  is  willing  to  change  places  with  bis 
servant,  he  is  not  fit  for  communistic  life.  A pre- 
requisite for  such  willingness  is  a loving  recognition 
of  justice  as  the  governing  principle  of  the  uni- 
verse. He  will  then  be  as  receptive  to  truth  that 
touches  himself,  as  to  that  which  touches  his  neigh- 
bor ; and  if  there  comes  the  intellectual  perception 
that  the  role  he  is  now  playing  is  out  of  harmony 


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with  justice,  he  will  have  no  desire  to  retain  it. 
He  will  rather  choose  to  be  tossed  hither  and  thither, 
up  or  down,  so  that  he  finds  the  place  rightly  his, 
where  he  accords  with  God. 

The  condition  of  longing  desire  indicates  an  ob- 
ject unattained.  Those  who  most  eagerly  desire  a 
communal  home  are  usually  those  who  most  need, 
because  they  least  possess,  the  communal  spirit. 
When  one  has  reached  the  development  that  makes 
him  really  a communist,  he  lives  that  life,  even 
though  he  be  solitary.  Those  are  best  capable  of 
practical  communism,  to  whom  that  life  has  ceased 
to  be  an  object  of  feverish  desire. 


WOMAN. 


In  speaking  of  woman  we  approach  the  infinite. 

She  is  unlimited  — therefore  indefinite,  not  to  be 
compassed  by  speech.  Any  attempt  to  present  a 
complete  and  definite  view  of  her  nature  must  fail 
in  proportion  as  it  is  definite. 

Humanity  is  a unit ; and  within  this  unism  lies 
enfolded  a perfect  dualism, — masculine  and  femi- 
nine,— corresponding  to  the  dualism  of  positive  and 
negative  in  the  world  of  unembodied  forces.  The 
correspondence  between  mankind  and  the  physical 
world  is  very  perfect.  Much  time  and  effort  has 
been  expended  by  reformers  in  arguing  for  the 
equality  of  woman.  Had  they  been  themselves 


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more  thoroughly  penetrated  with  that  truth,  they 
could  not  have  said  so  much  about  it.  Some  truths 
are  self-evident,  if  evident  at  all.  They  do  not 
admit  of  argument  or  proof.  In  full  majestic 
beauty  they  stand  awaiting  recognition.  We  may 
call  attention  to  them,  but  to  eyes  that  are  blind 
they  cannot  be  demonstrated.  That  manhood  and 
womanhood  balance  each  other,  is  one  of  this  kind. 
Yet  when  I compare  man  and  woman  to  the  posi- 
tive and  negative  poles,  to  day  and  night,  I convey 
to  many  the  idea  of  a comparison  derogatory  to 
woman ; for  while  the  material  husk  that  envelopes 
our  consciousness  is  thick,  only  positive  things  — 
those  which  strike  hard  — can  penetrate. 

It  is  only  as  we  wear  thin  the  covering  of  our 
spirits  and  open  the  doors  of  intuition  and  spiritu- 
ality, that  the  more  subtile  negative  forces  com- 
mand equal  recognition. 

Men  and  women  possess  the  same  qualities,  in 
which  appears  their  unity ; but  their  modes  of 
manifestation  are  unlike,  showing  the  dualism. 
Man  manifests  his  greatest  strength  in  action, 
direct  and  positive.  Woman  manifests  hers  in 
endurance,  passive  and  negative.  We  can  see  the 
first  at  a glance ; the  comprehension  of  the  last  is 
a slower  process  spread  through  a longer  time.  In 
the  intellectual  world,  man’s  strength  appears  in 
projecting  thoughts  and  ideas ; woman’s  in  the 
capacity  to  receive  thoughts  and  ideas.  In  love,  he 
makes  the  active  manifestations,  she  is  receptive 
and  responsive.  His  nature  is  centrifugal ; hers  is 


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centripetal.  The  perfect  adaptation  of  men  and 
women  to  each  other,  the  marvellous  interplay  of 
all  their  qualities  and  faculties,  the  balance  of  each 
part  and  of  the  whole,  when  once  perceived  with 
clear  vision,  wraps  the  whole  subject  of  sex  in  an 
atmosphere  of  reverence  and  awe  that  silences  at 
once  and  forever  the  conceited  intellect  that  would 
flippantly  unfold  the  law  of  its  divine  mystery. 

Co-ordinate  in  entity,  in  manifestation,  man, 
corresponding  to  action,  precedes  woman,  corre- 
sponding to  reaction. 

In  the  physical  world  man  is  the  pioneer ; he 
builds  the  house,  then  woman  makes  in  it  a home. 
He  furnishes  the  external  — the  form;  she  the  in- 
terior— the  spirit.  The  same  correspondence  runs 
through  the  mental  and  moral  world.  In  the 
readjustment  of  society  man  must  give  form  to  the 
enterprise,  must  furnish  the  material,  while  woman 
supplies  the  inspiration — the  spirit.  In  whatever 
work  is  to  be  jointly  done  (and,  in  the  large  sense, 
all  work  is  joint  work),  he  must  take  the  first  step. 
Woman’s  daintier  foot  will  be  quick  to  follow. 
Until  he  has  done  his  part  she  is  helpless ; she  can 
do  nothing,  except  partially  and  imperfectly.  In 
the  human  body,  if  one  lung  is  destroyed,  the  other 
fulfils  as  best  it  can  the  office  of  both ; so  with  one 
eye,  and  even,  we  are  told,  with  one  hemisphere  of 
the  brain.  In  like  manner,  one  half  of  the  human 
duality  can  live  and  labor  without  the  co-operation 
of  the  other.  Necessity  develops  an  imperfect  and 
limping  dualism  in  each  sex.  The  latent  positive- 


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ness  in  the  woman  is  brought  into  activity,  and  the 
interplay  between  the  two  portions  of  her  own 
nature  keeps  up  motion  and  life.  But  it  is  a 
maimed  and  imperfect  life,  as  is  the  corresponding 
condition  in  man.  If  he  does  not  receive  womanly 
response,  if  his  action  is  not  followed  by  reaction, 
it  is  like  beating  the  air,  exhausting  and  unpro- 
ductive. 

Man’s  superior  size  is  a fact  full  of  significance. 
He  is  larger  than  woman,  that  he  may  surround, 
encompass,  and  comprehend  her.  Man  may  be 
compared  to  a square,  and  woman  to  an  inscribed 
circle.  He  views  her  from  the  exterior  toward  the 
centre ; she  reverses  the  process  and  sees  him  from 
within,  beginning  at  the  heart.  When  men  are 
manly,  when  the  square  is  perfect,  it  is  inevitable 
that  women  will  be  womanly,  that  the  sphere  will  be 
round  and  full.  It  is  when  men  fail  to  keep  their 
harmonious  proportions  that  women  become  dis- 
torted also — they  cannot  help  it.  The  first  in- 
alienable right  of  woman  is  good  men.  Given 
that,  she  will  ask  no  other,  because  to  her  it  com- 
prehends all.  Woman  is  as  helpless  in  the  hands 
of  man  in  the  sphere  of  mental  and  moral  life  as  in 
that  of  the  physical ; and  womanhood  stands  plead- 
ing with  outstretched  hands  of  supplication,  "Oh  ! 
ensphere  me  with  protection  and  love  ! Keep  me 
womanly  ; for  only  then  can  I be  to  you  what  your 
soul  desires.”  Man’s  nature  responds  in  a dumb, 
blind  fashion,  and  he  looks  about  him  to  see  what 
to  do.  As  with  the  individual,  so  with  the  race. 


i* 


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Man  is  not  content  with  himself  unless  woman  is 
satisfied  with  him.  The  woman’s  rights  clamor  has 
forced  the  fact  upon  his  attention  that  she  is  not 
satisfied.  He  is  irritated  and  provoked,  and  calls 
her  unreasonable ; but  all  the  time  he  is  trying, 
honestly,  if  awkwardly,  to  satisfy  her.  His  manly 
instinct  tells  him  that  the  thing  demanded  in  her 
name  is  not  what  she  wants.  He  sees  that  she 
could  do  nothing  with  the  ballot  if  he  gave  it  her. 
Indeed,  his  own  invention,  it  has  proved  more  than 
he  can  manage  himself.  Viewing  woman  from  the 
outside,  he  sees  clearly  her  adaptations  to  external 
things;  but  her  inner  heart  is  to  him  an  unknown 
world.  Of  that  great,  throbbing,  aching  void  he  is 
profoundly  unconscious.  Not  having  penetrated  to 
the  law  of  her  being,  he  fails  to  comprehend  its 
outward  manifestations,  and  finds  her  changeable, 
inconsequent,  unreasonable  ; and  either  charmingly 
incomprehensible  or  exasperatingly  so,  according 
to  the  color  of  the  glasses  through  which  he  views 
her.  On  the  other  hand,  woman,  though  knowing 
the  heart  of  man,  is  never  able  to  calculate  the 
method  of  its  crystallizing  into  action.  A mutual 
comprehension  between  the  sexes  is  a prerequisite 
to  the  harmonious  adjustment  of  their  relations. 
Here,  as  everywhere,  man  must  take  the  lead.  He 
must  invite  woman  to  reveal  herself — must  make  a 
place  in  himself  for  the  revelation  she  is  longing  to 
utter,  but  cannot  till  he  lias  done  so.  Each  sex 
longs  for  and  needs  comprehension  by  the  other ; 
for  each  sees  more  clearly  into  the  recesses  of  its 


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own  nature  when  interpreted  to  itself  by  the  other. 
The  two  great  obstacles  to  a better  understanding 
are,  that  man  does  not  aspire  to  comprehend  woman, 
and  that  woman  does  not  see  that  man  is  an  equal 
sufferer  with  herself  from  present  oppressive  con- 
ditions. 

Woman  suffers  not  so  much  from  man’s  oppres- 
sion of  herself,  as  from  the  legitimate  effects  of  the 
barbarity  of  men  to  each  other.  They  quarrel, 
make  war,  and  kill  each  other  by  thousands,  and 
she  is  left  husbandless.  They  have  destroyed 
manhood  by  ruthlessly  crowding  each  other  into 
poverty  and  vice,  and,  by  offering  a premium  for 
human  machines,  have  put  it  at  a discount,  until 
there  is  not  enough  of  the  manly  element  left  in 
society  to  preserve  its  equipoise.  It  is  a fact,  that 
woman  desires  to  be  held,  owned,  and  governed. 
It  is  also  a fact,  that  man  delights  in  doing  it ; but 
he  must  grow  into  the  spirit  of  freedom,  until  he 
wants  to  hold  and  govern  her  only  because  she  de- 
sires it,  and  only  so  far  as  she  desires  it.  When 
we  love  freedom  so  well  that  we  would  as  lief  be 
slaves  as  tyrants,  these  relations  between  the  sexes 
will  all  adjust  themselves.  When  we  speak  the 
word  freedom,  we  have  touched  the  tap-root  of  all 
reform. 

When  this  point  of  evolution  has  been  reached, 
we  shall  see  a government  in  which  woman  can, 
and  will,  have  a part ; but  the  present  bone  of  con- 
tention, the  ballot,  will  have  been  cast  aside.  A 
majority  will  not  desire  to  enforce  its  will  upon  a 


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minority.  A government  of  force  based  upon  the 
spirit  of  control,  will  have  been  superseded  by  one 
organized  in  the  spirit  of  justice,  its  office  to  pro- 
vide protection.  Penal  institutions  will  have  given 
place  to  reformatories,  from  which  the  idea  of  pun- 
ishment will  have  been  eliminated.  The  church, 
its  occupation  gone  of  saving  souls  from  a wrathful 
God,  will  have  resolved  itself  into  social  circles  for 
mutual  criticism  and  spiritual  unfoldment.  Domes- 
tic animals  will  be  kept  only  when  it  is  for  their 
advantage  as  well  as  ours,  and  used  only  in  just 
requital  for  the  care  and  protection  we  afford  them. 

Poverty  will  have  vanished  from  the  earth,  for 
the  distribution  of  the  results  of  labor  will  have 
been  organized  on  a basis  of  justice.  In  short,  man, 
instead  of  striving  to  construct  a system  of  things 
after  his  own  idea,  will  have  accepted  God’s  plan, 
and  turned  his  energies  to  removing  the  obstructions 
he  has  himself  introduced.  He  will  stand  aside 
and  let  " God’s  will  be  done.” 

Does  this  fair  life  look  afar  off,  O ye  aspiring . 
yet  doubting  ones?  It  may  begin  this  very  hour 
in  your  hearts  and  lives.  Loving  freedom,  loving 
justice,  and  living  as  near  to  them  as  is  possible,  your 
lives  shall  send  forth  a breath  of  the  Divine  Will, 
an  influence  more  potent  than  any  contagion  of  evil, 
and  before  which  it  must  flee  away  like  the  shades 
of  night  before  the  rising  sun. 


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SCIENTIFIC  PROPAGATION. 


The  reproductive  instinct  in  men  and  women  is 
that  which  links  them  most  closely  with  God  — the 
great  creative  power  in  Nature.  It  is  the  basic 
instinct;  universal,  indestructible,  the  innermost 
of  the  citadel  of  life.  Like  the  forces  of  external 
nature,  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  its  own 
existence,  and  is  amenable  to  no  other. 

The  tides  rise  and  fall,  the  winds  blow  and  die 
away.  Rivers  rise  and  flow  to  the  sea  which  replen- 
ishes them  again.  Human  intellect  observes  these 
facts,  collects  and  classifies  them,  and  is  able  to 
predict  their  recurring  manifestations.  The  result 
of  this  labor  we  call  Science.  So  in  the  larger  and 
wiser  future  awaiting  us,  men  may  observe  rever- 
ently the  wonderful  facts  of  reproduction  ; will  note 
attractions  and  repulsions,  calculate  the  effect  of 
surrounding  influences,  and  foretell  with  more  or 
less  accuracy,  the  probable  result  upon  population, 
as  our  signal  service  predicts  the  coming  storm  or 
clear,  weather. 

As  we  have  outgrown  the  age  when  a papal  bull 
is  issued  to  stay  a comet,  so  shall  we  outgrow  the 
age  of  legal  enactments  and  scientific  formulas  to 
regulate  reproduction.  The  elements  indulgently 
allow  us  to  play  with  them,  and  use  them  for  our 
petty  ends.  We  imprison  a piece  of  the  wind,  and 
force  it  through  a little  flue  ; we  condense  a few 


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cubic  yards  of  vapor ; we  turn  the  river  aside  to 
run  a mill  or  water  a garden  patch,  and  in  our 
foolish  conceit  fancy  we  control  the  elements.  But 
the  tide  rises  and  foils,  the  stream  flows  or  dries  up 
at  its  source,  the  hurricane  sweeps  over  land  and 
sea  and  sinks  into  calm  with  beneficent  disregard 
of  our  little  wishes  or  wills.  So  has  infinite  wisdom 
decreed  that  the  reproductive  instinct  should  be 
beyond  the  control  of  our  wills,  as  it  is  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  our  intellects. 

In  the  love-nature  lies  the  channel  by  which  we 
may  come  en  rapport  with  the  Eternal.  Here,  if 
at  all,  we  make  acquaintance  with  our  souls. 

Creation  deals  with  essences.  Only  that  which 
is  vital,  real,  passes  through  its  crucible.  Not 
what  the  man  and  woman  do,  not  what  they  know 
or  possess,  enters  into  the  child  ; only  what  they 
are.  All  that  is  artificial  in  the  parents  is  burned 
away  in  the  process.  Sometimes  there  is  but  little 
left.  The  only  way  to  improve  the  race  is  to  improve 
ourselves. 

In  the  true  sense  there  is  but  one  creative  prin- 
ciple in  the  universe.  It  seeks  expression  through 
men  and  women.  To  meddle  with  it,  to  interpose 
obstacles,  hindrances,  or  checks  to  its  natural 
manifestations,  is  to  attempt  to  thwart  and  outwit 
nature. 

Instead  of  trying  to  bring  the  reproductive  ele- 
ment under  the  control  of  the  intellect  and  will, 
and  cunningly  twisting  its  manifestations  to  suit 
our  convenience  under  existing  conditions,  we  must 


15 


let  it  be  free,  and  turn  our  ingenuity  into  its  legiti- 
mate sphere  of  exercise,  — that  of  providing  for 
whatever  necessities  may  ensue.  The  would-be 
reformers  and  harmonizers  of  society  begin  at  the 
wrong  end,  in  trying  to  twist  nature  into  harmony 
with  existing  civilization,  instead  of  remodelling  its 
man-made  institutions.  We  can  comprehend  that 
which  we  have  made,  and  it  looms  colossal  before 
our  admiring  gaze.  Nature  — that  which  made  us 
— we  cannot  comprehend  ; therefore  we  fall  into  the 
error  of  thinking  it  a trivial  obstacle  to  our  wishes, 
and  one  that  our  efforts  can  remove. 

The  whole  man  and  woman  go  to  make  up  a 
child,  — nothing  can  be  left  out  or  put  in  at  will. 
The  wrhole  is  greater  than  a part,  and  no  man  can 
intellectually  comprehend  his  whole  being,  still 
less  that  of  another ; therefore  it  is  impossible  he 
should  foresee  the  result  of  the  blending  of  those 
two  unknown  elements.  Before  the  instinct  of 
attraction,  the  attitude  of  the  intellect  should  be 
that  of  a reverent  listener.  When  in  the  inner 
depths  of  man’s  nature  springs  up  the  desire  for  crea- 
tion, and  woman’s  being  echoes  responsive,  the 
result  of  their  spontaneous  action  is  always  and 
inevitably  good.  It  is  the  effort  of  the  intellect  to 
evade,  escape,  or  circumvent  the  order  of  nature, 
that  produces  the  existing  inharmony  in  sexual 
relations. 

When  a man  is  living  purely  in  the  external,  he 
does  well,  from  his  own  standpoint,  to  exercise  rea- 
son in  these  matters ; but  if  he  would  lift  his  life 


1G 


into  relations  with  the  Eternal,  he  must  hold  both 
intellect  and  desire  in  abeyance,  and  let  the  soul 
speak  through  the  body,  — that  is,  act  sponta- 
neously. No  man  can  write  the  formula  of  sexual 
law.  It  is  already  written  by  the  wisdom  that  is 
higher  than  ours.  We  have  only  to  read  from  the 
Book  of  Nature,  — and  the  unlettered  man  can  do 
that  as  wTell  as  the  learned;  can  as  well  walk  in 
the  straight  and  narrow  path  of  nature’s  law,  for 
which  no  broad  road  of  science’s  building  will  serve 
as  a substitute. 


One  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  progress  is 
believing  we  possess  absolute  truth,  instead  of 
realizing  the  impossibility  of  our  finite  minds  con- 
taining anything  more  than  the  shadow  of  infinite 
causation  and  eternal  truth. 


Highest  of  all  the  attributes  of  our  nature,  stands 
justice.  It  sounds  the  key-note,  and  all  our  facul- 
ties and  desires  must  come  into  harmony  with  it 
before  discord  and  suffering  can  be  banished  from 
our  lives. 


While  the  spheres  of  labor  of  men  and  women 
are  interdependent  and  associated,  they  are  also 
distinct,  and  refuse  to  blend  into  a hermaphroditic 
unity.  When  actual  labor  is  the  central  interest, 
each  sex  instinctively  prefers  to  work  by  itself. 


17 


FATHERS  AND  MOTHERS. 


Why  do  moralists  so  exalt  the  office  of  mater- 
nity, and  say  nothing  of  paternity?  "Woman,  the 
moulder  of  our  destinies  ! ” "Woman,  the  redeemer 
and  savior  of  the  race  ! ” " By  virtue  of  her  sacred 

office  of  maternity,  throned  upon  the  right  hand  of 
the  Creator  ! ” I have  listened  to  such  rhapsodical 
compositions  of  an  hour’s  duration,  that  did  not  even 
hint  that  man  had  any  share  in  the  honor  of  creat- 
ing a human  being.  His  responsibility  is  usually 
limited  to  affectionate  and  obedient  service  to  the 
prospective  mother,  — the  " queen  in  the  realm  of 
the  affections.”  All  this  is  morbid  sentimentality, 
having  its  root  in  foolish  conceit  in  woman  and  cow- 
ardice, that  shirks  rightful  responsibility,  in  man. 

It  is  not  a fact  that  woman  wields  a greater  influ- 
ence in  forming  the  race  than  man.  The  male  ele- 
ment is  the  positive.  It  stamps  itself  not  only  upon 
the  offspring,  but  upon  the  plastic  nature  of  the 
female.  Stock-breeders  recognize  this  fact,  and 
conform  their  practice  to  it. 

Many  physiologists  have  noted  the  manifestations 
of  the  law  among  men  and  women.  Strongly 
marked  illustrations  have  occurred  in  the  intermar- 
riage of  the  black  and  white  races.  Researches  into 
the  law  of  inheritance  have  developed  many  inter- 
esting facts;  but,  without  going  into  detail,  I will 
simply  say,  I do  not  recall  a single  instance  of  a 


18 


great  man  who  had  an  insignificant  father.  I do 
not  know  of  one  great  woman,  mated  with  a man 
decidedly  her  inferior,  who  has  produced  children 
equal  to  herself. 

Woman  may  be  likened  to  a.  mould  in  which  a 
thing  is  cast,  man  furnishing  the  material ; and 
according  to  the  material  will  be  the  kind  of  prod- 
uct. Pour  gold  into  a mould  of  clay,  and  it  will 
come  out  gold,  however  ill-shapen  ; but  put  mud  into 
a golden  mould,  and  it  will  still  be  mud.  I am  not 
arguing  for  the  superiority  of  fatherhood.  To  my 
eyes,  paternity  and  maternity  are  inevitably  equal. 
The  moral  of  it  all  is,  that  man  should  realize  the 
importance  of  keeping  himself  clean  and  fit  to  beget 
children,  and  that  it  will  not  help  him  to  do  so  to 
belittle  his  share  in  forming  the  character  of  his 
offspring. 


SEXUAL  SCIENCE. 


To  none  of  the  teachers  of  sexual  science  have  I 
turned  deaf  ears.  I believe  myself  receptive,  yet 
am  I not  enlightened.  I see  their  theories  to  be 
superficial  and  external.  They  do  not  cover  the 
facts  of  experience.  The  men  who  have  seemed  to 
me  the  wisest,  have  frankly  admitted  that  while 
they  had  learned  a few  facts,  the  underlying  phi- 
losophy was  still  unknown  to  them.  The  man  who 
has  had  experience,  who  has  studied  and  observed 


19 


and  recorded  his  observations,  comprehends  it  no 
more  than  the  simple  and  uneducated.  I know  no 
more  what  is  the  law  of  sexuality  to-day  than  I did 
when  I was  fifteen.  I only  know  that  the  way  to 
all  truth  lies  through  freedom.  If  a man  asks  me, 
"To  whom  shall  1 go  to  learn  the  right  way?”  I 
should  say,  go  to  no  one.  If  he  ask,  " What  shall 
I do  to  do  right?”  I should  say,  you  know  better 
than  any  one  else  can  tell  you. 

The  one  thing  that  I see  to  be  necessary  in  sexual 
matters  is,  to  be  let  alone,  and  to  let  ourselves 
alone ; stop  prying  and  meddling  and  theorizing. 
If  a man  finds  himself  possessed  of  an  excess  of 
amative  development,  it  is  simply  a fact.  It  cannot 
be  altered,  save  by  a gradual  process  of  growth  that 
shall  enable  other  qualities  in  his  nature  to  balance 
it.  It  is  better  for  the  man,  and  safer  for  society, 
that  it  should  burn  itself  out  in  natural  methods, 
than  that  it  should  be  forcibly  repressed.  The 
receipts  of  scientists  and  moralists  may  succeed  in 
exchanging  an  abnormal  manifestation  for  a differ- 
ent one,  but  it  will  be  abnormal  still.  " So  you 
justify  an  excessively  amative  husband  in  imposing 
himself  upon  his  wife  to  any  extent?”  No.  I 
should  have  no  marriage  that  would  allow  of  any 
such  imposition.  I believe  in  individual  freedom. 


The  best  growth  of  my  life  — the  development 
which  is  of  the  most  value  — has  come  to  me 
through  a spiritual  illumination  that  has  enabled 


20 


me  sometimes  to  act  spontaneously  in  sexual  matters, 
— absolutely  without  thought  of  consequences,  with- 
out desire  to  escape  or  evade  them. 


Change  is  external  — belongs  to  the  appearance 
of  things.  Spring  gives  place  to  summer,  and 
summer  to  autumn,  and  autumn  to  winter.  What 
a change  in  the  face  of  nature  ! But  the  spirit 
is  not  changed,  and  buds  forth  anew  in  the  same 
round  of  manifestation.  So  is  the  spirit  of  man 
unchangeable.  There  is  no  divorce  in  the  world 
of  realities.  Whatever  marriage  there  ever  was,  is 
now,  and  ever  must  be.  What  portion  of  universal 
womanhood  my  nature  has  an  affinity  for,  is  mine. 
No  other  man  can  take  it  from  me.  I can  in  no 
way  lose  it.  I have  nothing  to  fear. 


The  oftener  a person  can  change  his  present 
mating  for  a more  perfect  one,  the  better.  There 
is  life,  there  is  growth  in  change.  When  a mar- 
riage is  externally  dissolved,  both  carry  with  them 
all  that  was  real  of  the  joy,  the  happiness,  the  use 
of  that  marriage.  In  a new  union,  each  has  a 
chance  to  give  forth  something  never  before  de- 
manded — to  receive  something  never  before  re- 
ceived. 


21 


Before  one  can  do  anything  with  these  principles, 
he  must  be  grounded  in  freedom.  No  one  who  is 
not  free  can  tell  whether  a new  attraction  is  a more 
perfect  mating  or  not.  He  must  be  free  to  go,  he 
must  be  free  to  stay.  I have  never  met  any  one 
who  impressed  me  as  free  in  both  halves  of  this 
proposition.  When  one  thus  free  finds  a new 
marriage,  it  proves  that  the  old  one  was  ended . 


LEGAL  MABEIAGE. 


I recognize  the  fact,  that  the  average  marriage, 
with  its  binding  legal  bond,  is  the  natural  expres- 
sion of  the  average  man  and  woman,  and  there- 
fore is  right  for  them.  If  I show  the  world  that  I 
have  something  better,  it  will  perceive  its  superi- 
ority only  as  the  average  of  manhood  and  woman- 
hood is  raised.  It  is  not  the  institution  of  marriage 
that  is  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  but  the  undevel- 
oped natures  of  men  and  women  which  express 
themselves  in  the  institution. 

If  I psychologize  or  persuade  a person  to  dis- 
pense with  the  legal  bond,  who  would  naturally 
express  himself  by  making  use  of  it,  I do  that 
person  an  injury,  and  retard  his  progress.  Such 
as  are  held  in  chains  by  fear  of  society’s  frown, 
need  the  suffering  those  bonds  will  bring  them  to 
develop  their  courage,  — their  individuality.  No 
person  can  free  another.  " Himself  must  strike 


22 


the  blow.”  Then  we  may  aid  him  to  maintain  his 
footing,  and  render  it  firm  and  stable. 

Advocates  of  social  freedom,  who  suffer  on 
account  of  social  ostracism,  are  to  be  pitied,  per- 
haps, but  they  are  not  yet  sons  of  freedom,  nor  is 
their  love  of  it  yet  stronger  than  their  love  of 
popular  approbation.  The  only  legitimate  cause  of 
complaint  is  when  the  law  lays  its  strong  hand  of 
force  upon  our  liberty.  We  must  learn  cordially 
to  recognize  the  right  of  people  to  dispense  with 
our  society,  if  they  do  not  find  it  desirable.  The 
right  of  exclusion  is  one  of  the  first  rights  of  indi- 
viduals, and  one  of  the  first  lessons  in  freedom. 

What  possible  cause  of  grievance  is  it  if  society, 
finding  us  out  of  harmony  with  itself,  falls  away 
from  us  ? Can  we  not  grant  to  others  so  much  of 
the  freedom  we  claim  for  ourselves? 

The  work  of  the  social  reformer  is  to  free  himself 
from  all  bonds,  and  then  to  assist  others  in  their 
efforts  to  do  the  same ; not  to  persuade  people  to 
be  free  before  they  desire  to  be,  before  they  are  fit 
to  be.  The  beauty  and  joy  of  a free  life  is  con- 
tagious. No  precaution  can  prevent  its  spread. 
If  we  are  free,  if  we  are  loving,  every  one  who 
comes  into  our  sphere  will  feel  it,  and  be  more  free 
and  loving  for  it. 


The  world  is  not  yet  far  enough  advanced  to 
furnish  practical  examples  of  free  love.  A few 
have  caught  sight  of  the  light,  but  they  see  it 


23 


through  the  medium  of  the  filth  in  which  they  have 
been  educated,  and  in  which  they  live,  and  their 
efforts  to  exemplify  it  are  marked  by  manifesta- 
tions of  the  lower  plane  where  they  now  are. 

None  of  us  have  learned  more  than  the  a,  b,  c 
of  freedom.  Do  we  know  any  more  of  love? 
How  can  we,  until  we  are  free? 


UNWELCOME  CHILDREN. 


This  is  a combination  of  words  that  belongs  to 
existing  civilization,  and  is  its  product.  It  is 
unknown  to  unadulterated  nature.  Artificial  con- 
ditions have  raised  the  price  of  children  till  they 
"cost  too  much.”  If  we  would  divorce  this  un- 
natural conjunction,  we  must  so  revise  the  diction- 
ary of  civilization,  that  a large  family  will  no 
longer  be  the  synonyme  for  poverty  and  deprivation, 
for  overwork,  sickness,  premature  age,  and  death. 
Does  this  seem  an  impossible  task?  It  will  be 
found  easier  than  revising  the  laws  of  nature.  The 
environments  of  society  and  government,  with  their 
conditions  of  finance  and  politics,  customs  and 
habits,  look  so  irresistible,  and  are  so  impossible 
for  the  individual  to  overcome,  that  when  they 
conflict  with  natural  instincts  we  try  to  bend  the 
latter.  We  forget  the  source  of  the  two.  One  is 
the  voice  of  nature,  — the  Almighty,  — the  other  of 
a combination  of  men.  Against  the  first,  all  the 


24 


inhabitants  of  the  globe  cannot  prevail ; but  what 
human  combination  has  clone,  human  co-operation 
can  undo. 

If  we  would  have  welcome  children,  we  must 
remove  those  conditions  which  have  transformed 
the  crowning  joy  of  human  life  into  a burden  too 
grievous  to  be  borne.  There  is  no  reason  in  the 
nature  of  things,  why  the  rearing  and  providing  for 
a family  of  children  should  bear  any  more  heavily 
upon  the  parents  than  it  does  upon  a pair  of  our 
feathered  songsters  to  rear  their  little  brood.  The 
labor  bears  no  greater  proportion  to  the  power  of 
the  laborers.  We  might  learn  many  lessons  from 
the  birds,  were  we  not  too  pulled  up  with  intellect- 
ual pride.  Lessons  of  government,  of  just  distri- 
bution of  natural  wealth,  of  individual  rights,  of 
co-operation,  of  freedom,  of  love  and  sexual  purity, 
of  spontaneity,  of  faith  and  trust  and  happiness. 
There  is  such  a distance  between  our  feathered 
brothers  and  sisters  and  us.  Is  it  up  or  down?  In 
all  the  things  I have  named,  they  are  nearer  to 
nature  — to  God  — than  are  we.  Extremes  meet 
— and  when  man  shall  have  unfolded  the  divine 
possibilities  of  his  spiritual  nature,  he  will  be 
nearer  to  the  birds  in  many  things  than  to  the  man 
and  woman  of  to-day. 

To  have  welcome  children,  we  must  learn  to 
reverence  our  bodies,  and  keep  them  healthy  and 
able  to  do  their  creative  work  easily  and  well. 
Surrounded  by  the  conditions  our  natures  demand, 
the  bearing  and  rearing  of  children  is  an  experi- 


25 


ence  that  opens  the  way  for  both  fathers  and 
mothers  to  the  highest  developments  and  most 
thrilling  joys. 

To  have  welcome  children,  we  must  remove  both 
the  artificial  barriers  to  the  free  expression  of 
creative  desire,  and  the  artificial  temptations  and 
incitements  to  it.  And,  lastly,  we  must  develop 
individually  such  a respect  for  manhood  and 
womanhood,  and  for  its  crowning  manifestation  in 
sex,  as  to  readjust  the  present  inverted  table  of 
values,  placing  realities  above  artificialities,  — the 
man  above  the  merchant,  artisan,  or  politician, — 
the  woman  above  the  lecturer,  housekeeper,  or 
votary  of  fashion. 

The  Bed-breasted  Bobin. 

The  red-breasted  robin  wooed  him  a wife 
When  the  leaves  were  young, 

And  swelled  his  throat  till  I thought  it  would  burst 
As  he  joyous  sung. 


He  brought  her  home  to  our  apple-tree,  love, 
When  the  bloomy  snow 

Was  thick  on  the  bough,  and  dropping  down 
On  the  green  below. 

Together  they  builded  a marvellous  nest, 
Well  hidden  from  view  ; 

And  proudly  and  lovingly  placed  within 
Four  ovals  of  blue. 

Then  softly  nestled  the  lady-bird  down 
On  her  treasures  rare, 

Pressing  them  warmly,  both  day  and  night, 
With  her  bosom  fair. 


4 


26 


Sits  she  silent  and  still,  while  the  song  of  her  mate 
Bises  loud  and  clear ; 

Yet,  I think  she  whispers  her  great  content 
In  his  listening  ear. 

And,  dear,  if  you’ll  bend  close  down  to  my  lips, 

I’ll  teach  them  to  say 

What  measureless  happiness  swells  in  my  breast 
Through  the  livelong  day. 

But  ah!  the  words  are  not  fashioned  to  tell 
The  joy  of  your  wife, 

As  she  bears  ’neath  her  heart  the  wonderful  gift 
Of  a double  life ! 


EDUCATION. 


They  say  "’tis  education  forms  the  common" 
mind,”  and  we  never  stop  to  consider  whether  it 
is  best  to  have  our  "common  minds”  formed  by 
education  or  not.  I have  an  idea  that  it  is  better 
to  let  the  mind  educate  itself,  than  to  have  it  edu- 
cated by  whatsoever  educator  circumstances  give 
the  authority  to  act  in  that  capacity.  We  are 
taught  in  childhood  to  look  upon  our  teachers  as 
positively  wise,  and  to  believe  they  cau  pour  into 
us  as  much  golden  knowledge,  set  with  diamonds 
of  wisdom,  as  we  can  contain.  It  takes  us  many 
years  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  verbiage  we  allow  to 
come  into  our  minds,  believing  it  to  be  useful 
knowledge  and  truth.  Education,  as  it  now  is, 
means  stuffing  our  heads  with  theories  that  have 
grown  out  of  a bad  chemical  admixture  of  education 


27 


and  organic  tendency  in  somebody’s  brain.  People 
seem  to  think  it  makes  very  little  difference  how,  so 
long  as  you  are  educated.  The  child’s  head  must 
be  filled  full  of  something,  and  is  often  crammed 
till  it  bursts.  Stuff  his  brain  with  theology  as 
fast  as  possible,  of  the  kind  of  which*  he  seems  to 
hold  the  most,  and  which  is  most  available,  to  the 
end  that  he  may  become  a bright  and  shining  light, 
command  a large  salary,  and  reflect  honor  upon  his 
parents  and  teachers.  Or  educate  him  for  a lawyer, 
or  at  West  Point  for  a military  life.  Make  him 
some  kind  of  a machine  that  will  grind  out  a name 
and  fame.  Shut  him  up  in  college  and  stuff  him 
until  he  is  fattened  with  the  drippings  of  morbid 
mentalities,  just  as  you  stuff  your  pig  until  he  can- 
not walk,  and  your  goose  until  it  cannot  fly.  Feed 
him  theology,  materia  meclica,  military  tactics,  or 
law,  — anything  of  which  he  will  imbibe  the  most 
freely  and  retain  the  largest  quantity.  Take 
Nature’s  divine  work  out  of  her  hands.  Be  his  wet- 
nurse,  and  poison  him  with  the  corrupt  lactage  of 
a false  education,  so  we  will  soon  become  a nation 
of  educated  fools. 


We  are  all  so  much  inclined  to  live  wholly  upon 
that  which  is  sweetest  to  us,  forgetting  the  law 
that  necessitates  variety,  that  our  thoughts,  our 
loves,  and  our  lives  become  diseased,  and  we  are 
unfit  for  the  reception  of  the  clear,  pure  waters  of 
inspiration. 


28 


OBSCENE  LITERATURE. 


Some  well-meaning  people,  spiritual  descendants 
of  the  pious  Fathers  of  the  Inquisition,  have  formed 
a Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice.  The  spirit 
of  persecution,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever,  has  just  now  turned  its  attention  from 
religion  to  morals,  and,  substituting  vice  for  heresy, 
is  striving,  with  the  old  familiar  bigotry  and  imbe- 
cility, to  suppress  results  without  touching  causes. 

It  strives  to  plaster  up  the  ill-smelling  ulcer  on 
the  social  body,  sprinkles  a little  perfumery,  and 
congratulates  itself  upon  its  remarkable  success. 

The  natural  outlet  is  always  the  safest.  There  is 
a diseased  condition  of  society  that  produces  a 
demand  for  obscene  books  and  pictures.  They  are 
one  of  the  outlets  for  its  impure  waters.  Damming 
them  up  with  penal  statutes  is  building  a reservoir 
whose  embankments  are  foreordained  to  break  amid 
devastation  and  ruin. 

Whom  is  it  feared  obscene  publications  will 
injure?  Surely  not  Christian  young  men,  guarded 
by  the  church,  redeemed  by  Christ,  converted 
from  the  error  of  their  ways?  The  naturally  pure- 
minded  are  repelled  in  disgust.  They  are  power- 
less upon  all  in  whom  the  morbid  appetite  to  which 
they  appeal  does  not  already  exist.  What  if  they 
do  hasten  its  outward  manifestation  ? They  can  do 
no  more.  How  do  we  know  but  it  is  the  quickest 


29 


way  for  the  man  to  get  rid  of  his  unfortunate 
inheritance?  What  if  he  is  incited  to  suicidal 
practices,  that  take  him  to  the  next  life  before  his 
prime?  Do  we  know  how  it  will  be  with  him 
there?  And  will  the  world  be  worse  off  than  if  he 
trod  the  prescribed  path,  transmitting  to  offspring 
his  own  abnormal  appetites,  intensified  from  sup- 
pression ? 

Obscene  literature  will  be  produced  and  will  be 
circulated  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  suppress  it,  so 
long  as  there  is  a demand  for  it.  Only  when  no 
one  wants  such  books  ought  they  to  cease  to  be 
printed.  It  is  the  right  of  the  individual  to  read 
such  books  as  he  chooses,  and  to  do  what  he  chooses 
with  himself.  If  he  chooses  to  go  to  hell,  no  power 
in  the  universe  has  the  right  to  prohibit  him.  It  is 
a necessity  for  him  to  experience  hell,  until  he  has 
got  enough  of  it  and  begins  to  ask  for  heaven. 

The  supposed  right  of  suppression  rests  upon 
egotistic  belief  in  one’s  own  infallible  wisdom.  The 
thing  to  be  suppressed  is  decided  by  the  opinion  of 
the  party  that  happens  to  have  most  power.  Thus 
a class  of  writers  who  believe  themselves  to  be 
moral  teachers  are  as  honestly  believed  by  others 
to  be  immoral  and  obscene.  As  the  latter  class 
happens  to  be  the  stronger,  in  full  faith  that  might 
makes  right,  it  arrests,  fines,  imprisons,  and  sup- 
presses the  weaker.  But,  far  in  advance  as  are 
these  social  reformers,  are  they  entirely  free  from 
the  spirit  of  persecution?  Would  they  not  pass  on 
the  blow  they  have  received  to  a class  still  weaker 


30 


than  themselves?  " Much  as  I have  suffered  from 
this  law,  I would  favor  its  modification,  rather  than 
its  repeal,”  writes  one.  That  is,  he  would  have  it 
so  modified  as  not  to  "take  off  the  heads  of  our 
best  people  as  well  as  the  hind-quarters  of  vermin.” 
Liberal,  philanthropic,  enlightened,  and  cultivated 
as  is  this  good  man,  such  an  utterance  shows  he  has 
not  yet  stepped  over  the  boundary  line  where  his 
feet  can  rest  upon  the  bed-rock  of  freedom,  — thine 
as  sacred  as  mine. 

On  my  first  visit  to  New  York,  an  inexperienced 
backwoods  boy,  fresh  and  verdant,  I had  one  of  these 
objectionable  books  thrust  in  my  face  by  a sleek, 
light-complexioned,  mild-looking  young  fellow,  in 
general  appearance  not  unlike  the  young  men  I see 
nowadays  going  in  and  out  of  the  rooms  of  the 
Christian  Association.  He  asked  me  to  buy.  "No, 
sir,”  said  I,  politely  ; "I  don’t  want  it,”  and  passed 
on.  But  in  a moment  he  was  again  at  my  side, 
displaying  the  book  and  repeating  his  invitation. 
"No,”  said  I again,  "I  don’t  want  your  book.” 
But  he  persisted,  and  followed  me  the  length  of  a 
square,  frequently  repeating  his  solicitation.  I 
wanted  to  go  about  my  business,  and  he  impeded 
my  progress  ; and  more,  he  attempted  to  exercise 
for  me  my  choice  of  what  I would  do.  It  made  no 
difference  to  me  what  he  tried  to  force  upon  me ; 
if  it  had  been  the  Bible,  it  would  have  been  all  the 
same.  It  had  not  occurred  to  me  to  feel  insulted 
at  his  invitation,  any  more  than  by  the  placards  in 
the  saloon  windows,  inviting  me  to  "Walk  in. 


31 


Brandy  three  cents  a glass.”  A little  mathematical 
calculation  showed  me  that  brandy  at  three  cents  a 
glass  was  of  necessity  a counterfeit,  a spurious 
compound,  gotten  up  to  produce  temporary  insanity. 
I saw  that  it  appealed  to  one  morbid  appetite,  as 
the  obscene  book  did  to  another,  and  that  of  the  two, 
the  bad  brandy  was  by  far  the  most  powerful  for 
evil,  being  surer  to  reach,  by  an  indirect  course,  the 
sexual  passions,  than  was  the  obscene  book  by  its 
direct  appeal.  I knew  the  barkeeper  was  licensed 
by  our  Christian  government  to  sell  his  wares,  and 
I supposed  the  young  man  was  also ; though,  now 
that  I have  had  more  experience,  I suppose  he  was 
either  an  honestly  illegal  vender,  or  else  a decoy, — 
an  agent  of  some  virtuous  society  of  suppression, 
endeavoring  to  inveigle  me  into  the  meshes  of  the 
modern  inquisition,  I never  thought  of  either 
liquor  or  book  as  a temptation  or  a danger.  All 
that  made  any  impression  upon  my  mind  was  the 
persistent  effort  of  the  young  man  to  intrude  upon 
my  personal  liberty ; and  it  was  well  for  us  both 
that  he  accepted  my  refusal  at  the  moment  he  did, 
for  though  I have  never  carried  any  deadly  weapons, 
I should  have  found  effectual  means  to  defend  my 
right  to  walk  the  highway  unmolested.  It  was  well 
for  him,  because  he  would  probably  have  got  hurt. 
It  was  well  for  me,  because  our  free  government 
' would  probably  have  punished  me  for  defending  my 
right  to  freedom. 

Is  there,  then,  nothing  that  can  be  done  to  " stay 
the  tide  of  immorality,  that  is  sweeping  our  country 


32 


to  destruction  ? ” If  the  country  goes  to  destruc- 
tion, it  will  be  because  it  needs  to  go,;  because 
nothing  better  than  destruction  is  possible.  Only 
one  thing  can  overcome  vice,  and  that  is  virtue ; 
only  purity  can  cleanse  impurity.  If  we,  individu- 
ally, are  pure,  and  in  proportion  as  we  are  pure, 
our  lives  will  radiate  a perfume  subtle  and  power- 
ful. This  atmosphere  impurity  cannot  breathe. 
Either  it  will  flee  away,  or,  by  the  wondrous  chem- 
istry of  the  spirit,  will  be  transformed. 


Why  so  many  reformers  are  left  behind  in  the 
march  of  progress,  till  the  radical  of  to-day  becomes 
the  conservative  of  to-morrow,  is  because  they 
undertake  to  look  after  effects.  Enthusiastically 
they  present  their  morsel  of  wisdom  to  the  world  ; 
and  because  the  world  does  not  see  its  importance 
as  they  do,  they  repeat  it  a little  louder,  and  keep 
on  repeating  it  ad  infinitum . Meantime  the  world 
moves  right  on  ; and  by  the  time  a sufficient  num- 
ber of  people  have  reached  the  standpoint  of  our 
reformers  to  render  their  cause  triumphant,  others 
are  far  ahead,  receiving  and  giving  forth  new  per- 
ceptions of  truth,  for  them  in  their  turn  to  denounce 
and  combat. 


33 


THOUGHT  AND  ACTION. 


Thought  is  unlimited,  is  linked  with  the  infinite. 
It  seeks  expression  through  the  finite  body,  and 
the  result  is  action,  — necessarily  limited.  Xu 
thought,  it  is  possible  to  be  absolutely  true  ; but 
our  lives  can  only  be  as  nearly  true  as  our  organ- 
ization will  permit.  Most  of  us  commit  the  fatal 
error  of  not  thinking  any  more  truly  than  we  are 
able  to  act,  — of  limiting  our  conceptions  to  the 
possibility  of  present  actualization.  By  thus  play- 
ing fast  and  loose  with  truth,  we  lose  the  power  to 
distinguish  between  it  and  its  counterfeit.  We 
shall  continue  to  do  so  as  long  as  we  prefer  to  pre- 
serve our  self-complacency,  rather  than  our  mental 
integrity. 


Putting  men  into  prisons  can  never  make  them 
any  better,  so  long  as  they  are  shut  away  from  the 
society  of  women.  Our  prisons  shut  out  every- 
thing that  is  purifying  and  elevating,  and  shut  in 
all  that  is  impure  and  debasing.  The  evil  in  the 
man  has  no  chance  to  escape,  and  however  small 
the  germ  of  sin  may  be  when  he  enters  this  fruitful 
cesspool  of  evil,  it  will,  in  time,  penetrate  his 
whole  being,  and  stain  every  faculty  of  his  spirit. 

5 


M 

STIMULANTS. 


If  I were  a moral  teacher,  I would  not  advise 
anybody  to  use  tobacco,  or  wine  and  intoxicating 
liquors ; and  I could  never  advise  any  one  not  to 
use  them.  I believe  it  is  just  as  pure  and  right- 
eous to  make  use  of  tobacco  and  wine  as  of  meat 
and  vegetables,  and  just  as  ignoble  to  be  a slave  to 
the  one  as  the  other.  I don’t  believe  it  is  a necessity 
to  use  them  every  day,  or  for  every  person ; and  I 
believe  there  are  some  people  so  organized  as  never 
to  be  benfited  by  their  use.  I believe  these  stimu- 
lants have  all  been  useful,  and  have  been  a neces- 
sity to  the  growth  and  development  of  mankind. 

Now,  to  give  a reason  for  my  belief.  There  is  in 
the  spirit  of  man  a constant  yearning  for  some- 
thing he  does  not  possess.  It  is  called  aspiration 
when  it  is  for  something  we  think  high  and  holy ; 
that  is,  when  this  involuntary  prayer  of  the  spirit 
asks  for  something  above  the  level  of  our  earthly 
surroundings.  In  the  man  whose  spirit  yearns  to 
conquer  nations  or  rule  peoples,  we  call  it  ambition. 
One  is  intellect  touched  by  spirituality,  the  other, 
intellect  modified  by  animality. 

Now,  there  is  a yearning  of  the  body  correspond- 
ing with  the  desire  of  the  spirit  always  ; and  unless 
the  body,  which  is  the  basis  for  the  spirit  to  work 
from,  receives  in  some  way  the  stimulus  which  is 
the  answer  to  its  prayer,  the  spirit  cannot  act. 


35 


The  same  stimulating  power,  acting  upon  differ- 
ent organizations,  produces  different  results,  %\ 
harmony  with  the  material  acted  upon.  The  man 
with  very  large  veneration,  under  the  influence  of 
wine,  becomes  reverential  and  prayerful.  If  he  is 
combative,  it  makes  him  fight ; if  amative,  it  makes 
him  lustful.  If  he  has  large  benevolence,  it  makes 
him  generous,  open-handed,  and  lavish.  If  he  has 
an  ambition  to  be  a public  speaker,  it  sets  him  to 
making  a speech.  The  liquor  is  not  responsible 
for  the  direction  or  quality  of  the  man’s  action.  It 
simply  sets  him  in  motion,  and  the  direction  he 
takes  is  in  harmony  with  his  leading  characteristics 
or  propensities. 

If  a man  under  the  influence  of  liquor  does  a 
deed  which  we  call  evil,  he  is  brought  face  to  face 
with  a manifestation  of  himself  from  which  he 
recoils,  and  a magnetic  current  is  set  in  motion 
from  caution  to  the  organs  which  have  been  unduly 
active,  which  tends  to  produce  equalization.  Every 
manifestation  which  is  an  action  of  what  is  called 
an  evil  propensity,  reacts  upon  the  man  as  a whole  ; 
and  when  action  shall  have  been  violent  enough  to 
produce  a reaction  that  shall  level  up  other  qualities 
until  they  balance  those  which  have  been  in  excess, 
such  manifestations  will  cease.  Stimulus  simply 
accelerates  the  process,  — makes  it  more  rapid  and 
violent. 

A few  who  read  this  will  see  it  as  wre  do,  will 
understand  it ; but  many  will  not.  Some  will 
think  we  advocate  the  use  of  tobacco,  tea,  coffee, 


36 


and  spirituous  liquors ; but  to  such  we  would  say, 
as  you  understand  the  advocacy  of  a practice,  we 
do  not. 


MUBDEB. 


Murder  does  not  have  the  same  significance  to 
me  that  it  did  years  ago.  When  I take  up  a daily 
paper  and  read  the  list  of  murders,  I feel  that  it  is 
in  perfect  keeping  with  the  intellectual  development 
of  the  age,  — in  fine  harmony  with  the  rules  and 
regulations,  the  laws,  politics,  religion,  habits,  and 
customs  of  men’s  present  condition  of  imciviliza- 
tion. 

* The  benefit  I receive  from  the  perusal  of  the  daily 
accounts  of  the  illegal  and  legal  killing  of  men  and 
women  is  this  : it  gives  me  an  opportunity  to  com- 
pare that  manifestation  of  intellectualized  animals 
with  the  same  of  five,  ten,  or  fifty  years  ago,  so 
that  I may  estimate  the  time  necessary  for  this 
expression  of  pagan  and  Christian  humanity  to  reach 
its  divine  maximum ; which  will  be  my  data  for 
calculating  the  end  thereof. 

Yes,  I say  murders  are  necessary.  If  you  do 
not  believe  it,  let  me  point  you  to  the  joyful  expres- 
sion upon  the  newsboy’s  face,  and,  if  you  are  clair- 
voyant and  can  see  his  spirit,  to  the  warm,  bright- 
colored  rays  of  hope  which  come  pouring  in  to 
animate  and  inspire  his  cold,  cheerless,  sinking  life, 
when  the  fourth  edition  announces  a first-class  Fifth- 


37 


avenue  or  Beaeoii-street  murder.  Greedily  the 
news-hungry  crowd  snatch  from  his  cold  little  hand 
the  paper,  and  with  delight  the  shivering  news- 
vender  pockets  the  price.  A thousand  newsboys 
are  made  happy  by  this  distribution  of  pennies 
caused  by  the  timely  death  of  one  rich  man  ; and  a 
thousand  families  to-night  are  fed  that  otherwise 
went  supperless.  A thousand  sinking  little  hearts 
take  fresh  courage,  and  in  their  happy  dreams, 
visions  of  great  successes,  of  bank  accounts,  of 
stores  and  shops,  and  happy  homes,  are  theirs. 
The  levelling  process,  equalization,  is  constantly 
going  on.  Man’s  monopolies  of  the  means  of  hap- 
piness are  being  dissolved  by  the  breath  of  divine 
wisdom  and  goodness.  Two  or  three  homes  are 
covered  with  a pall  of  sorrow,  that  rich  blessings 
may  fall  upon  a thousand  others. 

"Am  I sure  that  divine  wisdom  and  goodness 
causes  all  this  to  take  place?”  If  not,  tell  me 
what  does. 


Moral  liberty  will  yet  be  recognized  as  the  equal 
of  religious  liberty,  — freedom  of  action  equally  as 
sacred  as  freedom  of  opinion.  Any  and  every  act 
lies  solely  and  absolutely  between  the  man  and  his 
God,  until  he  infringes  upon  the  rights  of  some 
other  individual,  when  his  action  ceases  to  be  a 
manifestation  of  freedom,  and  becomes  tyranny. 


0 


38 


THE  WORLD’S  SAYIORS. 


Those  who  have  claimed  to  be  the  saviors  of  the 
world  have  been  the  destroyers.  They  advance  a 
theory  and  call  it  absolute  truth.  They  claim  to 
be  inspired  by  God,  Allah,  Brahma,  or  great  intel- 
ligences that  cannot  err,  and  all  must  believe  or  be 
damned.  Moses  wrote  the  ten  commandments  as 
directed  by  Jehovah,  and  all  the  world  must  accept 
them  and  act  accordingly.  Jesus,  with  his  large 
self-esteem  and  powerfully  psychological  tempera- 
ment, pompously  said,  " I am  the  light.”  "He  that 
believeth  on  me and  poor  humanity  has  felt  his 
influence  all  through  the  ages  that  have  passed  since 
he  spoke,  and  expecting  a great  reward  for  believ- 
ing on  Jesus,  have  neglected  to  cultivate  their  own 
individualities,  feeling  that  it  was  easier,  as  well  as 
safer,  to  simply  believe  Jesus  would  take  better 
care  of  them  than  they  could  take  of  themselves. 
So  the  prophets  and  seers  of  to-day  point  to  their 
inspirations  from  infallible  wisdom,  their  vocabula- 
ries of  eternal  truth,  saying,  "Believe,  practise, 
and  your  sins  shall  be  washed  away ; nevertheless, 
do  as  you  like,  you  are  free  to  believe  or  not,  but 
herein  lies  the  truth . 

Thousands  do  believe  already  ; have  buried  them- 
selves in  spiritualistic  theories,  and  shutting  out  the 
sun  of  progress,  lie  supinely  upon  their  backs, 
caught  between  the  holy  lids  of  their  new  bible. 


39 


There  will  they  lie  till  some  more  potent  wave  roll- 
ing in  with  the  tide  of  progression,  shall  rouse  them 
from  their  lethargic  spiritual  slumbers. 


MUSIC. 


The  popular  music  of  the  day  is  an  intellectual 
manifestation,  not  an  expression  of  the  spirit  as 
people  usually  think.  It  is  the  sugar  that  sweetens 
intellectual  life.  The  singing  of  birds  and  insects 
is  in  harmony  with  nature.  Most  of  the  singing 
and  playing  of  men  and  women  is  in  harmony  with 
the  artificiality  of  this  intellectual  age.  The  great- 
est singers  and  players,  or  those  who  have  the 
greatest  reputation,  arc  standing  upon  the  central 
point  between  the  spontaneity  of  simple  nature  and 
the  spontaneity  of  spiritualized  life,  which  we  have 
not  yet  reached.  When  we  have,  we  shall  not  be 
satisfied  with  singing  another  man’s  songs.  Music 
read  from  books  is  artificial.  In  the  higher  spirit- 
ual spheres  of  being  to  which  we  are  all  tending, 
we  shall  read  our  music  from  the  mountains  and 
valleys,  the  meadows  and  streams.  The  snowflakes 
and  raindrops,  the  eyes  of  birds  and  butterflies, 
and  the  bright  stars  will  be  our  musical  notes,  from 
which  the  soul  of  song  dwelling  in  each  separate 
nature  will  flow  as  freely  and  as  sweetly  as  the 
crystal  streams  of  angel  love. 


40 


POLITICS. 


The  United  States  comprises  a broad  territory, 
peopled  by  a variety  of  races  and  nationalities. 
There  is,  in  consequence,  a great  diversity  of  opin- 
ion upon  all  subjects  comprised  in  politics,  religion, 
and  morals.  A government  that  shall  justly  repre- 
sent such  a people  must  have  a very  broad  founda- 
tion,— must  reach  down  to  the  bed-rock  of  first 
principles.  As  it  at  present  exists,  it  is  too  narrow 
for  the  people ; and  unless  it  proves  elastic,  capa- 
ble of  broadening  and  enlarging  to  their  necessities, 
they  will  burst  it  in  pieces  as  inevitably  as  the 
expanding  germ  bursts  the  seed-husk  that  encloses 
it.  In  a country  like  ours,  no  sectarian,  no  one 
who  is  pledged  to  any  special  system  of  religion, 
school  of  politics,  or  code  of  morals,  should  be  eli- 
gible to  office.  Our  legislators  should  be  selected 
with  as  careful  regard  to  their  freedom  from  preju- 
dice or  bias  as  our  jurymen.  As  our  elections  are 
now  managed,  no  man  can  take  his  seat  in  the 
senate,  house  of  representatives,  or  State  legisla- 
ture, till  he  has  sold  out  his  freedom  to  form,  or 
change  an  opinion,  and  act  in  conscientious  accord- 
ance therewith. 

Can  we  expect  to  be  well  served  till  we  select 
men  whom-  we  can  trust  to  act  from  their  own  wis- 
dom and  conscience,  in  the  inevitably  unforeseen 
emergencies  that  are  always  arising?  No  man  can 


41 


do  his  best  in  an y department  of  life  unless  he  is 
trusted,  unless  he  is  believed  in.  He  needs  that 
inspiration.  We  should  repose  a generous  confi- 
dence in  our  public  servants  until  they  fail  in 
capacity  or  integrity.  Then  we  should  discharge 
them  at  once,  and  put  others  in  their  places.  Do 
not  all  men  wish  that  the  places  of  public  trust 
shall  be  held  by  the  best  men?  Yet  as  at  present 
arranged  our  politics  offer  a premium  for  trickery 
and  partisan  narrow-mindedness.  There  is  no 
place  in  our  government  for  sterling  honesty  or 
broad  statesmanship. 


I do  not  consider  a man  great  in  any  sense 
because  he  assumes  to  be  ; and  have  little  to  say 
about  the  noisy  politicians  or  egotistical  preachers 
who  succeed  in  building  up  and  keeping  up  notoriety 
with  their  garrulousness  and  self-aggrandizement. 
As  long  as  people  interest  themselves  in  writing 
them  up  and  writing  them  down,  so  long  is  food 
furnished  them  upon  which  they  will  fatten  ; for 
the  attention  of  the  public  is  all  they  ask.  The 
rest  of  their  wants  they  can  supply  themselves, 
after  this  first  and  most  important  one  is  satisfied. 
Our  wisest  men  will  have  to  evolute  this  muddle  of 
conceitedly  great,  bad  men  out  of  their  brains 
before  they  can  reach  the  acme  of  their  possibili- 
ties. Just  let  this  army  of  human  sharks  and  vam- 
pires alone  and  they  will  sneak  off  the  stage ; and 
6 


42 


when  they  are  gone,  look  out  and  not  let  "a  more 
hungry  swarm”  fill  their  places. 

Men  and  brethren  ! why  don’t  you  stop  and  think 
a moment  now  and  then  ? Ask  of  yourselves,  What 
is  the  need  of  having  all  this  cumbersome  ma- 
chinery of  government?  Of  what  use  is  the  Pres- 
ident? Not  Grant,  Hayes,  or  Tilden,  but  of  any 
President?  Fifty  thousand  dollars  salary  ! Why, 
that  would  feed  and  clothe  a hundred  thousand  of 
our  poor  starving  brothers  and  sisters,  and  at  the 
same  time  save  as  much  more  in  the  expense  of 
courts  and  prisons  for  punishing  their  crimes, — 
which  are  not  their  crimes,  but  ours,  — the  legiti- 
mate fruit  of  the  conditions  into  which  we  have 
forced  them.  And  all  who  lend  their  influence  to 
perpetuate  this  unwieldy  government,  which  is 
rotten  at  the  core,  take  the  bread  from  the  man 
who  earns  it  by  his  labor,  to  make  richer  the  office- 
holders who  have  already  grown  fat  upon  the  pro- 
ductions of  their  constituency.  What  a useless 
institution  is  the  United  States  Senate  ! What  a 
fraud  are  our  courts  of  justice  ! What  a commentary 
upon  our  boasted  government  of  equal  rights  is  this 
immense,  non-taxable  Christian  church  property  ! 


Those  people  who  absorb  our  vitality,  draw  their 
inspiration  from  persons  in  the  body;  while  those 
in  whose  presence  we  never  feel  weary  and  ex- 
hausted, draw  from  nature  and  the  invisible  world 
for  their  physical  and  spiritual  sustenance. 


43 


MEDITATIONS. 


I looked  about  me,  and  saw  all  the  people  of  the 
world  eating  and  drinking,  sleeping,  working,  mar- 
rying, — exercising  by  turns  the  different  depart- 
ments of  their  natures,  and  deriving  from  each  a 
satisfaction,  a pleasure,  the  sum  of  which  is  the 
aggregate  of  human  happiness,  and  I questioned, 
What  does  it  all  mean? 

What  becomes  of  our  happiness  ? Where  does  it 
go  to,  and  what  is  it  all  for? 

And  I saw  that  the  blending  of  the  soul  and  body 
produces  spirit;  that  from  each  and  every  act,  each 
manifestation  of  the  soul  through  the  body,  comes 
a satisfaction  which  is  the  spirit  of  the  act,  and  the 
spirits  of  all  our  acts  float  together,  and  form  a 
spiritual  body.  When  this  spiritual  body  is  com- 
plete, rounded  out,  full  and  perfect  in  every  part, 
the  soul  lays  down  the  physical  body  because  the 
spiritual  one  is  better  adapted  to  its  use.  Then  I 
saw  why  it  wTas  a misfortune  to  lose,  or  fail  to  use, 
any  part  of  the  physical  body.  The  soul  being  cur- 
tailed of  its  natural  means  of  manifestation,  the 
spiritual  body  is  deficient.  Whatever  part  of  our 
nature  is  unexercised,  fails  to  contribute  to  the 
spiritual  body.  In  the  light  of  this  thought,  the 
importance  of  an  equal  and  harmonious  develop- 
ment assumes  new  magnitude.  The  success  of  the 
specialist  becomes  the  defeat  of  the  spiritual  archi- 


44 


tect.  The  man  who  goes  all  his  life  in  the  tread- 
♦ mill  round  of  a few  faculties,  has  at  death  but  a 
fragment  of  a spiritual  brain.  His  "house  not 
made  with  hands  ” is  incomplete.  Sometimes  there 
is  not  enough  of  it  for  the  soul  to  wake  to  conscious 
existence.  Consciousness  belongs  to  the  external. 
The  individual  is  not  conscious  of  himself  till  the 
soul  acts  through,  or  upon,  substance,  either  physi- 
cal or  spiritual.  Here  is  the  underlying  truth  of 
the  old  idea  of  the  long  sleep  preceding  the  resur- 
rection-day. Conscious  life  is  possible  only  in 
action,  — motion.  The  man  who  is  wise,  wTho  gives 
each  and  every  part  of  his  nature  equal  exercise, 
each  in  its  turn,  passes  at  once,  and  with  ease,  from 
things  physical  to  things  spiritual.  Then  he  hears 
the  full  chorus  of  voices  to  which',  in  the  body,  he 
has  listened  one  at  a time. 

Men  are  in  a continual  state  of  unrest,  — an  unin- 
terrupted demand  and  supply,  a struggle  for  har- 
mony. But  when  we  reach  heaven,  whether  it  be 
in  this  world  or  the  next,  all  our  faculties  act 
together,  and  all  receive  their  satisfaction  simul- 
taneously. It  is  the  realization  of  perfect  commu- 
nity toward  which  we  struggle  and  aspire.  All 
efforts  to  establish  a genuine  community  between 
those  in  whose  individual  natures  it  has  not  devel- 
oped, must  be  futile.  Such  must  content  them- 
selves with  co-operation  till  they  have  grown  out  of 
their  childhood  estate  into  the  full  proportions  of 
spiritual  manhood. 


45 


S P I K I T . 


In  the  unexplored  universe  that  surrounds  us, 
there  is  infinitely  more  undiscovered  truth  than  has 
yet  become  manifest  to  our  consciousness.  The 
realm  of  spirit  is  a new  world  barely  discovered  to 
exist-,  and  about  which  we  know  no  more  than 
Columbus  knew  about  the  vast  continent  whose  out- 
lying island  he  had  touched.  People  who  have  given 
attention  to  the  subject,  have,  as  a rule,  been  much 
more  interested  in  trying  to  find  out  the  powers 
they  would  possess  after  death,  than  in  investigat- 
ing those  they  possess  now.  They  do  not  seem  to 
realize  that  they  are  spirits  now  as  much  as  they 
will  ever  be.  If  conscious  of  a self  interior  to  the 
body,  they  have  settled  it  that  it  can  manifest  only 
through  the  body,  and  in  accordance  with  discovered 
laws.  A preconceived  conviction  renders  one  un- 
able to  perceive  what  is  fact  or  truth,  so  long  as  it 
remains  in  the  mind.  The  chief  cause  of  the  limi- 
tation of  our  powers  and  our  wisdom,  is  our  belief 
that  they  are  limited.  The  door  that  leads  to  the 
knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  and  the  power  of 
spiritual  manifestations,  is  faith;  and,  as  a class, 
mankind  has  no  faith,  only  a superstitious  fear. 

In  the  true  sense,  faith  is  applicable  only  to  prin- 
ciples and  attributes  of  spirit.  If  I say  I have  faith 
in  a person,  it  only  means  that  I have  some  evi- 
dence that  makes  me  believe  he  will  do  certain 


46 


things,  — pursue  a certain  course.  To  have  faith  in 
you , is  the  small  way  of  putting  it.  I have  faith  in 
the  infinite  principles  of  love  and  truth  and  justice 
that  are  in  you,  and  from  which  you  cannot  escape. 
We  are  all  in  God,  in  Nature,  and  are  all  infilled 
with  the  Divine  Spirit.  No  one  can  exercise  faith 
in  the  full  sense  till  he  accepts  Nature,  — all  that  is, 
as  good. 

It  should  not  surprise  us  to  find  ourselves  pene- 
trating into  the  realm  of  causes  and  realities.  That 
is  what  we  were  meant  to  do,  and  what  our  natures 
are  fitted  for. 

We  must  expect  that  the  conservative  element  in 
this  as  in  every  age  will  deny  the  new  discovery. 
" What ! Allow  that  the  earth  revolves  around  the 
sun?  Never  ! It  would  upset  the  whole  system  of 
the  universe  ! ” So,  when  I say  that  I know  from 
repeated  experience  that  it  is  possible  for  two  peo- 
ple to  communicate  through  miles  of  space,  entirely 
independent  of  physical  means,  — when  I say  I 
know  that  a spirit  possesses  the  power  to  make 
itself  seen,  heard,  and  felt  in  a place  a thousand 
miles  removed  from  that  which  contains  the  physi- 
cal body  in  which  it  dwells,  — I have  no  doubt  many 
will  say,  sagaciously,  "Imagination!”  Pray,  sirs, 
can  you  tell  me  just  what  imagination  is? 


47 


SPIRITUALISM. 


The  advent  of  Spiritualism  marked  the  develop- 
ment in  the  race  of  faculties  that  enabled  us  to 
perceive  relationships  we  did  not  before  recognize, 
— relationships  between  our  individual  spirits  and 
the  All  Spirit.  It  was  more  the  recognition  of 
spirit  than  of  spirits,  though  the  former  includes 
the  latter.  People  embraced  Spiritualism  or  not, 
according  to  their  stage  of  development.  The  first 
who  did  so  were  chiefly  among  the  meek  and  lowly, 
as  were  the  first  followers  of  Jesus.  It  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  their  being  rich  or  poor,  learned  or 
ignorant,  but  with  the  rich  and  learned  there  was 
more  materiality  in  the  way  to  hinder  their  spiritual 
unfoldment.  By  Spiritualism  I do  not  mean  that 
when  I die  I shall  go  to  the  " Summer  Land  ” and 
return  to  communicate  with  my  friends  on  earth. 
I mean  the  facts  of  the  phenomena,  with  the  intel- 
ligence behind  them,  whatever  that  is.  The  vari- 
ous philosophies  or  theories  growing  out  of  it  are 
simply  the  result  of  the  action  of  the  phenomena 
upon  certain  minds,  just  as  Methodism,  Calvinism, 
and  other  creeds  are  the  result  of  the  action  of  the 
recorded  facts  in  the  life  of  Jesus  upon  certain 
other  minds.  The  theories  of  the  various  writers 
in  Spiritualistic  and  Christian  literature  are  all  of 
equal  value  as  authority.  Spiritualism  is  not  pro- 
gressive. Its  advent  was  necessitated  by  a demand 


48 


developed  in  humanity  which  existing  creeds  or 
systems  of  religion  failed  to  satisfy.  It  is  a form  ; 
and,  therefore,  like  Christianity,  destined  to  be 
outgrown  by  progressive  minds.  The  chief  differ- 
ence between  it  and  Christianity  is  that  it  covers  a 
little  more  ground,  is  a little  broader,  just  as  Chris- 
tianity was  larger  than  Judaism.  Spiritualism  may 
satisfy  the  needs  of  many  to-day,  but  the  larger 
man  of  to-morrow  will  need,  and  therefore  will 
have,  something  else,  — another  revelation  which 
will  supersede  Spiritualism.  Whatever  is  vital  in 
any  religion  survives  all  transitions,  and  the  few 
pearls  of  truth  spoken  by  Jesus  were  uttered  by 
inspired  minds  before  him,  and  are  reiterated  by 
mediums  to-day.  They  change  not,  but  the  idea 
they  convey  to  different  minds  all  through  the  ages, 
varies  according  to  the  unfoldment  of  capacity  to 
receive  and  comprehend. 


To  reach  the  most  perfect  development  of  which 
a person  is  capable,  it  is  necessary  to  work  at  many 
kinds  of  physical,  as  well  as  mental,  labor.  When 
one  has  graduated  in  this  school,  he  regards  all 
kinds  of  labor  with  equal  respect,  and  has  learned 
that  none  is  intrinsically  drudgery. 


49 


PEE  VISION. 


Whatever  is  to  occur  exists  now  potentially — a 
spiritual  reality. 

The  development  of  the  spiritual  senses  enables 
us  to  discern  spiritual  things.  Just  in  proportion 
as  we  come  en  rapport  with  wisdom,  are  we  enabled 
to  know  all  things.  I believe  this  the  explanation 
of  certain  visions  I have  of  what  afterward  occurs, 
rather  than  that  some  spirit-friend,  perceiving 
causes  that  I do  not,  reasons  out  their  probable 
result  and  then  impresses  it  upon  my  mind.  I 
believe  in  spirits  too ; or,  rather,  I should  say,  I 
have  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  individual 
spirits. 


The  desire  to  be  told  what  to  do  springs  from 
cowardice, — from  wanting  to  shirk  the  responsibility 
of  ourselves.  Spiritualists  who  ask  to  be  guided 
by  their  spirit-friends,  do  so  because  they  are  afraid 
to  take  the  consequences  of  acting  from  their  own 
standpoint. 

The  same  spirit  makes  Christians  call  upon  Jesus 
to  save  them  from  their  sins.  The  one  is  no  higher 
than  the  other,  — each  seeks  to  throw  the  responsi- 
bility of  his  acts,  of  himself,  upon  some  one  else. 
Both  are  conditions  of  spiritual  childhood. 

3 


50 


/ 


MEDXUMSHIP. 


Mediumship  is  a condition  of  receptivity,  of 
sensitiveness  and  impressibility,  which  feels  and 
responds  to  the  vibrations  of  the  spiritual  atmo- 
sphere. Mediums  are  not  operated  upon  by  spirits 
to  the  extent  and  in  the  manner  that  is  generally 
understood.  It  is  spirit  that  inspires  the  medium  ; 
that  blends  with  his  own  spirit,  and  gives  it  in- 
creased volume  and  power.  The  kind,  the  charac- 
ter of  the  communication,  depends  upon  the  quality 
and  character  of  the  medium.  Mediums  may  be 
compared  to  musical  instruments ; there  are  all 
kinds,  from  the  jew’s-harp  to  the  grand  organ,  and 
many  grades  of  each  kind.  Tunes  can  be  played 
upon  all  of  them,  but  the  sound  is  determined  by 
the  instrument. 

I have  listened  to  some  profound  philosophy 
from  the  lips  of  mediums  who  were  extremely 
ignorant  and  uneducated,  but  never  from  one  who 
had  a small,  narrow  head,  where  the  intellectual 
organs  were  deficient.  The  capacity  must  exist, 
else  there  is  no  place  in  which  to  receive  the  influx 
of  spirit. 

I have  noticed  among  spiritualists  that  the  lower 
down  a person  was  in  the  scale  of  development, 
where  marvellousness  predominated  over  reason, 
the  more  he  called  for  individual  spirits,  the  source 
being  of  greater  importance  in  his  mind  than  the 


51 


substance.  Mediums  are  outgrowing  this  as  fast  as 
the  conditions  of  ever-recurring  demand  for  indi- 
vidual spirits  will  allow.  From  being  the  mouth- 
piece of  a spirit,  they  come  to  be  controlled  by  a 
baud  ; the  band  gradually  expands  to  an  indefinite 
number,  and,  finally,  melts  into  the  grand  ocean  of 
spirit.  Demand  creates  its  own  supply,  and  as 
long  as  there  is  a call  for  John  and  Mary,  George 
Washington  and  Theodore  Parker,  "Sunflower” 
and  "Snowdrop,”  those  names  will  be  appended  to 
communications;  not  because  mediums-  are  dis- 
honest, but  because  the  demand  for  personality 
creates  a vibration  in  the  spiritual  atmosphere 
which  the  sensitive  medium  feels  and  responds  to. 


We  have  nearly  all  suffered  from  the  effects  of 
early  education  in  religion.  It  takes  us  years  to 
unlearn  the  false  theories  of  the  creation  of  the 
world,  the  fall  of  man,  and  the  revolting  means  of 
salvation  which  our  parents  and  teachers  instilled 
into  our  young,  receptive  minds.  In  my  own 
childhood’s  experience,  I am  ever  grateful  to  the 
wise  and  loving  invisible  intelligence  that  only 
suffered  my  feet  to  wander  a short  distance  into  the 
great  dismal  swamp  of  false  Christianity. 


52 


"THAT  BEAUTIFUL  SHORE.” 


I hear  spiritualists  and  sentimentalists,  people 
with  morbid  ideality,  singing  a great  deal  about 
" That  beautiful  shore.”  I see  it  would  be  a good 
lesson  for  them  to  learn  that  the  " beautiful  shore” 
would  be  no  more  beautiful  to  them  than  this,  until 
they  are  ready  for  it.  If  they  should  go  there,  and 
itshould.be  as  beautiful  as  the  garden  of  Eden, 
they  would  see  no  more  beauty  there  than  here. 
All  that  class  of  people  are  " only  waiting  ” ; and 
when  they  see  what  life  really  is,  and  what  are  the 
means  of  finding  "that  beautiful  shore,”  they  will 
see  that  in  so  doing  they  have  succumbed  to  the 
opposing  force,  — the  adversary.  The  "waiting” 
holds  them  back.  I would  say,  never  wait  one 
moment.  Heaven  is  here  and  everywhere.  If  you 
cannot  enter,  if  a weight  of  inharmony  and  inability 
oppress  you,  don’t  wait  for  death  to  lift  the  load 
from  your  listless  spirit.  Perhaps  it  won’t.  Is  it 
not  a childish  thought,  that  dropping  our  physical 
bodies  will  make  us  wiser,  stronger,  better,  or 
happier  than  we  now  are? 


The  secret  of  gaining  wisdom  is  receptivity.  We 
have  but  to  open  the  doors  of  our  spirit,  and  it  will 
enter,  even  as  the  perfumed  air  of  summer  steals 
in  through  the  open  doorway  of  our  dwelling. 


SPIRITUAL  HEALING. 


The  healer  who  observes  the  phenomena  occur- 
ring in  and  through  his  own  organism,  becomes 
more  and  more  conscious  of  a double  identity,  — of 
a more  interior  self  acting  independently  of  the 
external  individuality. 

By  the  external,  I mean  the  whole  conscious  I of 
man  in  general.  Back  of,  or  interior  to  this,  dawns 
another  consciousness,  at  once  vague  and  intensely 
real.  I will  call  it  the  spirit.  This  spirit  is  one 
with  the  spirit  of  the  universe,  as  the  drop  is  one 
with  the  ocean.  It  is  in  communication  with  the 
spirit  of  all  knowledge,  of  all  love,  of  all  power 
that  the  universe  contains.  I know  of  no  limit 
beyond  which  we  may  not  draw  from  these  infinite 
sources.  Whether  this  wealth  of  resource  can 
reach  the  outer  consciousness  and  become  available 
to  the  man,  depends  upon  whether  communication 
can  be  established  between  the  spirit  and  the  intel- 
lect. That  is  largely  dependent  upon  temperament ; 
upon  the  sensitiveness  of  the  brain. 

Physical  disease  originates  in  a disturbance  of  that  . 
delicate  medium  of  communication  between  the 
spirit  and  the  body  lying  interior  to  the  nervous 
system,  and  of  which  we  know  nothing.  That  is, 
the  spirit  loses  partial  control  of  its  physical  habita- 
tion. When  the  control  fails  entirely,  the  spirit 
quits  the  body,  and  that  we  call  death.  As  nearly 


54 


as  I can  define  it,  spiritual  healing  is  the  re-enforce- 
ment of  the  spirit  of  the  sick  man,  giving  it,  for 
the  time,  added  strength  to  restore  harmony  in  its 
disordered  kingdom.  The  work  of  the  healer  is 
divided  between  the  inner  and  outer  consciousness. 
The  I has  to  become  passive ; to  yield  itself  com- 
pletely and  without  reserve  as  a channel  for  the 
spirit  to  flow  through. 

The  work  of  the  will  is  to  put  the  whole  selfish 
nature  in  abeyance  ; to  banish  fear ; to  put  aside  all 
external  interest.  Then  the  spirit  assumes  suprem- 
acy, and  reaching  one  hand  in  benison  to  the 
sufferer,  and  extending  the  other  in  receptivity 
toward  the  infinite  spirit  of  the  universe,  the  heal- 
ing stream  flows  through  him  to  his  needy  brother. 
But  sometimes  the  door  to  the  suffering  spirit  is 
closed,  — guarded  by  an  egotistic  intellect,  or  spirit- 
ual pride,  or  selfish  greed,  or  educational  prejudice. 
Then  the  healing  current  is  turned  away.  It  only 
flows  where  there  is  a channel  prepared  for  it. 
Fraternal  sympathy  and  love  must  meet  its  response. 
It  is  not  a business  transaction.  The  true  healer 
gives  of  his  life  and  his  love ; they  cannot  be 
bought  or  sold.  In  the  larger  future,  healing  and 
its  reward  will  both  be  spontaneous  actions. 


55 


WINTER. 


The  season  of  winter  is  analogous  to  death,  or 
rest,  which  means  freedom  from  the  body  for  the 
inner  life ; rest  from  the  toil  and  pain  of  giving 
action  and  development  to  the  body,  the  material 
covering  of  the  spirit.  Most  of  us  are  inclined  to 
look  forward  with  a sort  of  dread  to  winter,  which 
is  because  we  are  out  of  harmony  with  nature.  We 
are  not  willing  to  let  go  our  hold  upon  the  pleasures 
of  summer-time,  so  we  attempt  to  turn  the  course 
of  nature,  and  keep  summer  with  us  always.  We 
labor  hard  to  keep  up  a little  seven-by-nine  hot- 
house, where  we  can  inhale  the  sickly  air  from  an 
inharmoniously  combined  lot  of  plants  and  flowers, 
and  rob  nature  of  her  beautiful  evergreen  trees  and 
vines,  that  they  may  decay  and  litter  our  school- 
rooms, churches,  and  public  halls,  and  fill  them  with 
disagreeable  and  unhealthy  odors. 

To  him  who  truly  loves  nature,  and  willingly  and 
trustingly  obeys  her  commandments,  no  season  of 
the  year  can  afford  so  much  soulful  happiness  as 
winter.  The  breath  of  spring  is  sweet,  and  the 
kiss  of  her  new-born  lips  makes  us  gleeful  and 
happy.  The  breath  of  the  babe  is  sweet,  and  its 
kiss  delights  us.  But  the  richness  of  love  — its 
serene,  satisfied,  restful  happiness  — comes  when 
spirit-lips  of  snowy  purity,  perfumed  with  the  lily 
essence  of  perfected  earthly  love,  meet  in  the  holi- 
ness of  divine  freedom. 


56 


PEAYEE. 


Everything  that  exists  prays  continually,  unless 
warped  from  its  natural  attitude  by  interference 
from  without.  The  mineral  prays  for  a higher  life, 
for  transformation  into  a finer  and  more  exalted 
state.  The  vegetable  prays  for  growth  and  prog- 
ress. We  see  the  flower  turn  prayerfully  toward 
the  morning  light,  and  gratefully  kiss  the  sunbeams 
that  lovingly  come  to  answer  its  humble  petition. 

Each  living  thing  in  nature  seems  satisfied  with 
the  good  gifts  it  receives  in  answer  to  its  prayer, — 
the  supply  just  equal  to  the  demand,  — until  we  get 
to  man,  who,  in  his  selfishness  and  great  ambition, 
has  essayed  to  take  nature’s  work  out  of  her  hands, 
and  so  has  almost  lost  sight  of  true  prayer. 

No  manifestation  of  the  human  soul  is  more  false 
than  that  which  is  called  "prayer.”  Every  prayer 
that  was  ever  written  or  spoken,  in  study  or  pulpit, 
by  minister  or  layman,  is  a worthless  counterfeit. 
A real  prayer  very  rarely  finds  expression  in  words. 
I can  conceive  of  the  possibility  of  a soul  being  so 
filled  with  the  inflowing  streams  of  celestial  response 
to  all  his  needs,  that  a spontaneous  breathing  forth 
of  low,  sweet,  musical  words  of  reverential  asking 
and  grateful  acceptance  might  be  a manifestation  of 
prayer ; but  this  can  seldom  occur. 

Pulpit  praying  can  do  no  more  towards  supplying 
my  spiritual  needs  than  the  eating  of  a dinner  by 


57 


my  neighbor  can  supply  my  physical  demand  for 
food.  Nature  has  given  each  individual  a prayerful 
spirit,  which,  dwelling  in  freedom,  acts  continually 
in  harmony  with  her  laws. 


The  spiritual  element  in  conjugal  love  supplies 
to  the  outward  form  of  the  loved  one  all  the  charms 
that  are  in  harmony  with  the  beautiful  individuality 
which  inspires  the  affection,  in  the  same  manner  that 
the  passionate  lover  of  physical  beauty  invests  the 
beloved  with  all  those  graces  of  character  that  seem 
to  him  in  harmony  with  the  beautiful  exterior. 

The  one,  beginning  within,  unfolds  to  the  out- 
ward ; the  other  reverses  the  process,  time  peeling 
off  husk  after  husk,  till  the  reality,  whatever  it  may 
be,  is  revealed. 

The  unfolded  spiritual  vision  sees  the  beautiful 
thought  of  the  Creator,  and  in  that  delight  loses 
sight  of  accidental  imperfections  in  its  expression. 
The  world  bows  to  the  beauty  of  the  Venus  cle  Milo 
in  spite  of  its  mutilation. 


58 


TO-DAY’S  INNERMOST  THOUGHTS. 


February  1,  1878. 

When  I am  the  best  I ever  am,  I know  just 
enough  to  know  that  I want  a God,  — a great  Spirit 
to  surround  and  hold  ours,  — in  whom  we  live,  and 
from  whom  there  is  no  escape.  That  is  to  me  the 
Father,  and  satisfies  my  necessity  for  care,  protec- 
tion, and  guardianship.  I could  always  see  God  in 
nature  when  X was  a little  boy,  — in  every  leaf  and 
blade  of  grass,  and  looked  reverently  upon  them. 
X felt  when  X plucked  them  that  I was  meddling  with 
God.  By  this  power  I was  willingly  moulded.  I 
was  not  only  willing  the  flowers  should  excite  my 
ideality,  and  the  pine-trees  my  reverence,  that  the 
mountains  should  waken  my  sublimity,  and  the 
stars  stimulate  my  spirituality,  but  I was  full  of 
gratitude  for  their  lessons,  and  for  all  the  lessons 
that  came  to  me  through  nature  and  through  men ; 
but  I always  naturally  and  involuntarily  rebelled 
against  all  human  authority.  Even  when  I seemed 
subdued,  and  acted  the  part  of  a slave,  my  spirit  re- 
belled. That  a man  should  presume  to  mark  out  a 
path  for  my  feet  in  accordance  with  his  little  per- 
ceptions of  right,  I felt  in  the  depths  of  my  being 
to  be  an  impertinent  usurpation.  I did  not  feel 
angry  towards  my  oppressors  individually,  but  so 
strong  was  my  rebellion,  that  I think,  but  for  a feel- 
ing of  tenderness  and  some  inherited  caution,  I 


59 


should  have  just  killed  them, — kindly  but  effect- 
ually put  them  out  of  my  way. 

I have  no  ideal  of  what  the  system  of  things 
should  be.  Others  may  have  their  theories  of  what 
is  right  and  what  is  beautiful ; may  draft  the  plan 
for  "the  great  community”  of  the  future.  I am 
incapable  of  it,  because  I see  that  God  has  already 
done  it,  and  that  we  have  only  to  fall  into  line  and 
follow  his  leading.  I accept  the  facts  of  nature, 
whatever  they  are,  and  test  my  ideas  by  them,  in- 
stead of  testing  them  by  my  ideas.  This,  then,  is 
my  ideal, — God, — the  facts  of  nature, — all  of  them, 
— toads,  lizards,  doves,  men,  and  angels.  One  is 
just  as  good  as  another ; and  all  together  they  are 
God.  Externally  I hate  a toad,  because  I was  born 
with  that  aversion  ; but  my  spirit  looks  upon  a toad 
with  love  and  reverence  as  part  of  God. 

When  a child,  my  good  old  grandmother  told  me 
that  if  I went  to  church  I should  hear  the  minister 
tell  all  about  God.  So,  though  but  seven  years  old, 
I eagerly  walked  three  miles  alone,  and  but  half- 
clad,  and  stole  timidly  in.  I listened  with  breath- 
less attention  while  the  preacher  read  from  a book 
he  called  the  Word  of  God,  and  then  while  he  did 
something  he  called  praying  to  God,  and  followed 
closely  every  word  of  his  sermon  about  God ; and 
though  I went  home  with  a feeling  of  disappoint- 
ment lying  heavy  at  my  heart,  I followed  it  up 
with  all  the  earnestness  of  my  intense  nature.  I 
went  to  Sunday  school,  because  they  told  me  that 
there  I should  find  a man  who  would  teach  me  about 


60 


God.  I continued  my  attendance  until  I found  the 
God  they  talked  about  was  not  the  God  whose 
voice  I had  heard  under  his  own  starry  dome,  and 
then  I returned  joyfully,  even  in  my  disappoint- 
ment, to  my  first  teachers.  It  was  a valuable  les- 
son to  me,  because  then  I knew  the  difference 
between  the  pigmy  God  of  man’s  creation  and  God 
himself. 

My  intuition  carries  me  to  the  limit  of  my  possi- 
bilities of  comprehending  the  universe,  — and  that 
is  my  God ; and  then  it  tells  me  that  there  is  infi- 
nitely more  that  I do  not  comprehend.  My  God 
increases  day  by  day  as  my  capacity  enlarges,  and 
I know  I shall  have  a grander  God  to-morrow 
than  I have  to-day.  I know  through  faith.  That 
is,  faith  is  the  door  through  which  I have  entered 
into  this  knowledge.  I never  bow  down  and  hum- 
ble myself  before  my  God.  That  seems  to  me  an 
abnormal  action  of  the  organ  of  veneration.  When 
I have  the  grandest  conception  of  spiritual  things, 
when  I am  the  most  deeply  penetrated  with  a sense 
of  infinite  goodness  and  wisdom  and  power,  I feel 
the  least  like  prostrating  myself  in  worship.  I am 
elevated  into  a state  of  harmony  with  these  spirit- 
ual realities,  and  I look  up  and  down,  to  the  right 
and  to  the  left,  to  find  God,  and  feel  myself  on  au 
equality,  as  one  with  him. 

The  lesson  that  I want  to  learn  most,  for  it  com- 
prehends all  that  I need  to  learn,  is  to  labor  to-day 
with  love  and  gratitude  and  enjoyment,  and  to-night 
leave  it  forever.  If  I am  mowing  my  meadow,  I 


61 


want  to  do  it  joyfully,  taking  pleasure  in  the  beauty 
of  the  flowers,  the  songs  of  the  birds,  and  the  sweet 
breath  of  the  grass  ; and  then  if  I fall  down  in 
death  as  I give  the  last  swing  to  my  scythe,  I want 
to  do  that  just  as  joyfully. 

The  fact  is,  we  have  lost  sight  of  our  precious 
inheritance  of  faith,  and  in  its  place  have  only  a 
dead-letter  of  belief.  We  do  not  trust  God  to 
decide  when  the  special  work  of  our  life  is  com- 
plete,— when  our  journey  is  ended.  He  will  be 
sure  to  put  on  the  brakes  at  the  right  time.  That 
is  where  the  foolishness  comes  in  on  our  part ; we 
might  just  as  wTell  be  willing,  for  he  will  do  it  any- 
way. 

I want  to  have  as  much  trust  as  the  flowers  and 
trees.  If  a seed  is  dropped  in  the  road,  it  comes  up 
just  as  hopefully  as  if  dropped  in  a field  with  a 
fence  twenty  feet  high  around  it ; and  it  grows  just 
as  sweetly.  Perhaps  no  foot  will  tread  upon  it  till 
it  gets  to  be  three  or  four  inches  high  ; and  then,  if 
the  life  is  not  all  crushed  out  of  it,  it  rises  up  again 
and  goes  on  growing  just  the  best  it  can.  We  walk 
through  the  field  and  every  step  is  on  some  living 
thing. 

So  God  — the  power  that  is  a greater  power  than 
we  — walks  over  us.  We  make  ourselves  miser- 
able trying  to  escape  his  tread.  When  we  go  right 
along,  without  a thought  of  escape,  we  are  laying 
up  treasures  in  heaven.  There  is  scarcely  any  of 
this  spirit  born  into  the  world  yet.  That  which 
has  helped  me  to  grow  more  than  all  things  else, 

4 


/ 


G2 

has  been  an  illumination — an  inspiration  — which, 
at  times,  has  enabled  me  to  walk  right  along,  doing 
whatever  my  nature  spontaneously  prompted  me  to 
do,  without  a thought  of  consequences,  without  a 
desire  to  escape  them. 

It  is  thought  that  growth  comes  through  suffer- 
ing; but  I think  suffering  is  not  the  cause  of 
growth,  — only  incidental  to  it.  When  the  great 
omnipotent  power  draws  the  cord  of  life  to  greater 
tension,  it  gives  us  finer  power;  that  is,  we  ascend 
the  scale  of  soul  manifestation.  The  vibrations  of 
the  human  instrument  become  more  rapid,  the  tone 
it  gives  forth  grows  clearer  and  finer,  till  at  last 
the  limit  of  endurance  is  reached  and  the  cord 
snaps.  That  is  death. 

This  great  power  that  is  tuning  us  into  harmony 
with  the  universe  is  the  most  worthy  of  worship  of 
anything  we  know  of,  for  there  is  absolutely  no 
escaping  it,  or  outwitting  it.  Yet  we  foolishly 
spend  our  lives  struggling  against  it,  and  it  is 
this  struggle  that  produces  suffering.  I want  to 
yield  gladly,  in  the  spirit  of  reverent  love,  to  this 
Omnipotence.  If  it  turns  the  screw,  let  it  turn. 
If  death  comes  toward  me,  let  it  come.  I will 
float  with  the  stream  of  God’s  purposes,  not  fight 
against  them.  Many  times  has  his  finger  drawn 
my  life-cord  to  utmost  tension,  yet  broken  it 
not.  What  I am,  what  I know,  what  power  I 
possess  beyond  other  men,  is  due  to  these  excep- 
tional experiences.  For  except  ye  die,  ye  cannot 
be  born  again.  Come,  then,  death,  my  friend, 


63 


when  thou  wilt.  Touch  me  with  thy  hand,  and  try 
if  my  spirit  is  yet  ripe ; then  pass  by  or  take  me 
with  thee,  as  is  meet.  Thou,  too,  art  one  of  the 
facts  of  beneficent  nature,  art  part  of  my  God. 


MY  ASPIRATION. 


The  greatest  reward  I pray  to  realize  in  this  life 
for  all  the  toil  and  pain  that  assuming  an  individual 
human  existence  involves,  — the  highest  and  grand- 
est condition  I desire  to  attain  on  earth,  — is  that  of 
a pure,  noble,  sweet,  lovable  old  man.  An  old 
man  with  a large  heart  full  of  clean,  rich,  ripened 
thought,  and  a spirit  that  breathes  its  generous  love 
upon  all  and  everything  it  meets.  I would  have 
my  inner  life  so  full  of  tenderness  and  beauty  that 
the  external  would  be  correspondingly  beautiful,  — 
that  my  breath  would  be  sweet,  my  skin  clean  and 
soft,  and  my  flesh  partaking  of  that  odorous  fresh- 
ness and  fascinating  perfume  of  the  healthful  babe’s. 
I would  have  expressive,  tender,  loving  eyes,  and 
my  voice  should  be  as  soft  and  magnetic  as  the 
robin’s  last  autumn  song.  The  children  should  all 
love  me,  and,  as  I walked  in  the  street  or  field, 
should  gather  around  me  and  joyously  clasp  my 
thin,  white  fingers  in  their  soft  little  hands,  and 
when  I sat  down  to  rest  they  should  climb  upon  my 


64 


knee,  and  play  with  my  fine,  long  hair  and  silvery 
beard. 

Yes,  I ask  not  that  the  name  of  king  or  lord, 
president  or  senator,  pope  or  reverend  shall  com- 
mend me  to  the  honor  and  respect  of  my  fellow- 
men  when  the  sunset  of  life  draws  near.  Nothing 
short  of  being  a pure,  noble,  sweet,  lovable  old 
man  will  fill  the  measure  of  my  aspiration,  — my 
prayer. 

Now,  as  I look  around  me,  above  and  below,  I 
see  only  one  object  that  so  fully  and  completely 
commands  my  reverence  and  my  purest  affection, 
and  that  is  a sweet,  tender,  loving,  motherly  old 
woman. 


I know  that  there  is  a strait  and  narrow  path 
that  leads  to  the  fountain  of  wisdom,  compared 
with  which  the  keenest  and  most  practical  intellect- 
ual processes  are  as  starlight  to  sunlight.  No 
words  of  explanation  from  one  who  has  trodden 
this  divine  pathway  can  induct  another  therein. 
Only  by  association  can  he  assist  in  the  necessary 
development. 


